


Hidden Beginnings

by DemonicSymphony



Series: Vampires of London [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe- Vampires, Big Brother Mycroft, Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Holmes Brothers, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 05:03:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2096781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonicSymphony/pseuds/DemonicSymphony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of looks into the lives of Mycroft and Sherlock as younger vampires. </p><p>Set in The Vampires of London 'Verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hidden Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> For [ sherlockhasmjolnir](http://sherlockhasmjolnir.tumblr.com/) as part of the 2014 AU Exchangelock.
> 
> As always, to the Writing Circle, you're life savers. And a shout out to B for last minute email help!
> 
> However, as it's my work I still take full responsibility for any further advice I ignored. Thanks guys!

Mycroft held the squirming ball of fluff in his arms. It let out a ferocious growl for its small size. Mummy had told him repeatedly that dogs often didn’t like the slightly cooler skin of their race when picked up… but Sherlock had fallen in love with the setter and refused to shut up about it. He sighed at the dog and sneaked into the house, still damp from his trek through the dew covered grass. The drive back from Oxford, where he bought the puppy, had been uneventful. Mummy gave him a knowing smile as he passed through the sitting room on his way to Sherlock’s room. Mycroft’s nose tilted up slightly, as if refusing to acknowledge he’d done such a thing for his baby brother.

There was a smile on his face when Mycroft let himself into Sherlock’s room, dark curls the only thing visible over the covers. The dog squirmed harder, scrabbling to be put down and Mycroft released him when they neared the bed, allowing the puppy to launch himself onto the small form in the bed. Sherlock ‘oofed’ and his blue eyes flew open, glaring up at Mycroft until a warm, wet tongue laved all over his face and excited whining reached his ears.

With a startled shout, Sherlock threw his arms around the puppy. “REDBEARD!” 

Mycroft smiled as he watched Sherlock scratch the Irish Setter, perking up for the first time since he’d switched schools. “There now… and it’s even been arranged for him to go back to school with you.”

Sherlock looked up, a flash of fear coming across his face. It was apparent that hadn’t even occurred to him. “You mean it, Myc? He can stay in my dorm and everything?”

“Of course he can. It’s why Mummy and Father made sure pets were allowed in housing… now, you must learn proper care of him or he has to come home and then he will likely have to be given to someone who will take care of him. Do you promise you will care for him properly?” Mycroft gazed down at him, a serious expression on his face.

“I promise!” Sherlock laughed as Redbeard licked him some more.

“Very well. Get up and dress for breakfast. We have the whole of the summer to train him before you go back to school.”

Mycroft left the two of them playing on the bed, knowing very well it would likely be hours before Sherlock actually remembered that he needed to eat.

\---

Being a vampire child wasn’t always easy. While their adult counterparts often had somewhat smoother lives, children were much more cruel. Mycroft shielded Sherlock from as much of it as he could. After the incident at the end of the school year, he’d convinced Mummy and Father it was time to send Sherlock to a vampire boarding school, somewhere he’d not be teased for his need of blood pouches the way other children carried juice boxes. Or for his advanced reasoning skills.

Not all vampires were as advanced as the Holmes brothers. Certainly not. Even in their lofty circles they were sometimes eschewed for their preternatural ability to suss out things, though now that Mycroft was at Oxford, he was on the fast track to going places in the government… he supposed that having a vampire family firmly in the nation’s driving seat didn’t hurt. Even if they did all claim to be human.

The knock at his study door drew him from his thoughts and he glanced up to the clock. Tsk, he was late for an _exceedingly_ important meeting. He stood, drawing the feathered hat from his coat rack and the wooden sword from the umbrella stand. 

“Who dares board the ship of Captain Mycroft Holmes of Her Royal Majesty’s Navy?” Mycroft boomed out as he leveled the sword at the door.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal Sherlock, dressed in a full pirate’s costume, complete with eyepatch. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” He screamed as he charged into Mycroft’s study with his little wooden sword raised, Redbeard on his heels, barking and scrambling on the hardwood floor.

\---

When the phone rang and Sherlock’s mobile number showed, Mycroft braced himself. He’d known buying him one of the expensive contraptions was a mistake.

“I hate school. It’s boring.” Sherlock whined on the phone to Mycroft. Redbeard barked in the background.

“Sherlock, you’re meant to be in class, not out with Redbeard.” Mycroft sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I finished the textbook two weeks ago!”

Mycroft’s head hitting the doorframe of his office repeatedly had become a well-known sound and his new assistant came to him with a cup of tea. He smiled thinly at her.

“Sherlock Holmes! Go back to class! I will call the school and see about challenging you. And take Redbeard to the dog runs where he belongs!” Mycroft insisted as he moved back to his desk.

A small noise of frustration came from Sherlock before the line disconnected. Mycroft settled in at his desk and prepared to call the school, grateful for the backing of his parents when it came to matters involving Sherlock. It wasn’t that they didn’t care… it was that they recognized how well Sherlock responded to Mycroft’s ‘meddling’ as Sherlock was wont to call it, rather than when they tried to ‘help’.

\---

Mycroft hummed to himself as he watched his brother perform on stage, surging to his feet beside his parents and the rest of the audience. Truly, it had been a wonderful performance. He smiled as cheers went up around the audience. Sherlock may have turned into a surly teenager, but he had talent for the violin like nothing else.

The purchase of the Stradivarius the year before had been a calculated risk on Mycroft’s part. It had paid off. Sherlock had thrown himself into his music and stayed out of trouble, well, as much as it was possible for Sherlock to stay out of trouble.

Sherlock leapt off the stage and wound his way through the crowd as other students poured out to meet their own parents. He hugged their parents before hugging Mycroft close. Mycroft accepted the hug, indulging in it before Sherlock remembered he was too old for such things. When he pulled away though, Mycroft nodded. 

“You did well, Sherlock.”

“Of course I did… I’m the best in my age grouping in all of England.” Sherlock scoffed.

But Mycroft saw the pride at his praise under the haughty teenage exterior.

“Come, let us go celebrate. Anthea has volunteered her services for the evening…”

\---

Sherlock and Mycroft stared at one another amid the flashing lights of the crime scene. Mycroft’s heart was in his throat. The poison had killed several prominent vampires and Sherlock knew it… he’d very nearly swallowed what would have meant a violent, painful death. 

“Sherlock,” Mycroft admonished, “You know how this sort of thing always upsets Mummy!”

“I upset her!?”

The two of them, fully ensconced in their human personas stared one another down. Before Sherlock rolled his eyes and began talking to John, again, turning to leave.

And then… no one else caught it, there was a twitch at the corner of Sherlock’s mouth and a wink. Too fast for the little humans around them to catch.

Still Sherlock.

Still his baby brother.


End file.
